Tavern Talk
A cozy visual novel about running a tavern in a D&D-inspired fantasy! Gather rumors, serve magical drinks, and meet adventurers on a life-changing quest.
Tavern Talk is a singleplayer, fantasy and visual novel game
developed and published by Gentle Troll Entertainment.
Released on June 20th 2024 is available on Windows and MacOS
in 5 languages: English, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese and Korean.
It has received 1,327 reviews of which 1,210 were positive and 117 were negative resulting in a rating of 8.7 out of 10. 😎
The game is currently priced at 17.99€ on Steam.
The Steam community has classified Tavern Talk into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at Tavern Talk through various videos and screenshots.
Requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: 2.4 GHz or faster processor
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2GB display memory
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Stereo
MacOS
- OS: MacOS X 10.13
- Processor: 2.4 GHz or faster processor
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: 2GB display memory
- Storage: 2 GB available space
- Sound Card: Stereo
Reviews
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
I recommend it, but with the caveat that this game may just not be for you. Check the demo first. I wish I could give middle of the road recommendation because this is a tough game to recommend straight up from its store page. I feel like while it's not a lie, the store page may trick you into thinking there is at least a tiny bit of depth to your mixing drinks etc. There isn’t. It plays such a miniscule, nonexistent role in this and turns into such an annoying chore that I wish this element was just not in the game entirely. Mixing the drinks is not fun, it’s just a chore you do every now and then. I even tried giving the wrong drink here and there and it didn’t seem to matter; you can’t actually give the ‘wrong’ drink when the quest requires it anyway. I would just prefer to get these drinks from the menu at that point. Controls with the controller are a bit undercooked. The direction buttons don’t work in menus, you have to use the thumbstick. Jarring. Notes, and bottles/infusions can be scrolled through with the thumbstick, but it's very finicky and unreliable, making you pick what you DIDN’T want multiple times. The quest-making ‘minigame’ is also extremely annoying became of it. Also, there is no option that I could find that just shows all the text immediately and the skip and make choice buttons are the same, so I often pressed the button and had the dialogue choice basically made for me as I didn’t even see the options. It didn’t seem to impact much, considering I could pick conflicting opinions as the game went on. I am confused at the gameplay of this game, in fact. The minigames would be more fit for a much younger person, maybe a young teen or preteen would find them funny, but the meat of the game is the story that is definitely not fit for a child. So this is confusing as a choice. Now onto what the game is really about - the story. I liked it, but the format of the story made the finale of the game fall incredibly flat. Deaths of characters really did hit nicely midway through, when you could just hear about who passed and how. But the observer to nothing and only listener to tales format does not work for dramatic endings. In fact, the entire end of the game is so anticlimactic. I wish we could for once leave our tavern, show that we changed and saw something more of the action even if it were just to be still images. Or maybe there is something like this in the game and I just didn’t get that ending, but if that's the case, the ‘happy ending’ ending that I got is just somehow incredibly unsatisfying. Also there is some weird message in it that I don't want to spoil but in essence the day is won in a way that lacks nuance, makes the heroes bring you something that holds a soul of possibly your friend that they trapped in it and you're supposed to be... happy? I'm confused. The story was fine but the ending is really bad. Like, really bad. The characters are… okay as well. Not all are great, and some kind of appear too few times for me to grow to like them. I think my favorite was the vampire - even if the archetype of an airhead happy-go-lucky vampire isn’t my preferred one, he grew on me immensely. Pretty good cast of characters overall, and there are some interesting problems. Themes of difference in lifespans, religion being very real but at the same time still a distant concept: of loss, conflict, lies and their impact, i twas all pretty well done. Sure, not all of them were tackled to the full extent I wish they were, but this was a pretty good story. One issue I had with it only is that I felt no connection to my character. You don’t get to really ‘name’ yourself, and you can only pick your own pronouns. Your own history is not known to you as the player despite the innkeeper remembering their story, so there’s a dissonance there too. The art is gorgeous! I loved it to bits. Some of the animations on the other hand were a bit stilted, others were great. But, overall, the art is one of the shining parts of this game. A final issue I will mention is the writing itself, specifically with the English version, as I’m not sure if this issue is present in other languages: there are some terribly anachronistic dialogue lines that can drag you right out of the experience. In particular when one character goes ‘good mythical morning’ right after the ‘top of the morning’ from another character. Memeish jokes, very modern slang… this does not work. It doesn't ruin the experience, but it does water it down with unnecessary references and jokes that don’t fit in well. Well, that’s it! I overall recommend the game, but with a caveat that there are also a lot of flaws here. Still an enjoyable game and I don’t regret picking it up, but I feel no incentive to buy any dlc for it - It already outstayed its welcome with the 10 hours it took to read through it and by the end I was satisfied to just uninstall it and call it done.
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I would only recommend this game to people who like storytelling! With visual novel games, I find that things tend to happen to you, but in Tavern Talk, things tend to happen around you. In other words, to grasp the plot, you'll need to rely on the characters you befriend to recount the events. The life of an innkeeper! At its core, I believe this game is about sonder (the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own), as you'll get to listen to the varying perspectives and opinions of the characters. Your friends will set off on journeys you won't get to see for yourself, but it's always you they come back to. Even that, they'll have strong opinions on. And speaking of strong opinions, here are more of mine! Pros [*] So LGBTQ+ inclusive! There aren't many games or media out there with a nonbinary main character, but I'm glad we're adding an adorable elf to the list. [*] The worldbuilding was phenomenal, definitely the kind of thing you'd expect from a DnD-ish game. [*] A page-turner of a visual novel. I was always looking forward to meeting the next character, or seeing the next outcome of a quest. [*] Sprinkled with heavy-hitter lines and words to live by here and there. And a few cute comical things too! [*] Lovable characters all around! I want to give them a big ol' hug! Their character design was wonderful as well. [*] Character Spoilers: Every time I'd meet a new character, I'd check their alignment and jokingly whine about how I'm only meeting good and neutral characters. So when I finally met a chaotic evil, it was so worth the wait! [*] Minor Dialogue Spoilers: A small but notable thing I really liked was Hex and Grace's sibling bond. It's so rare to see siblings in media outright say "I love you" so it made me happy to see them express it so simply despite their reluctance for communication. [*] Major Ending Spoilers: I loved seeing the ending credits montage of the characters' lives together! The kiss between Fable and Neil almost made me fall off my chair, and seeing Clay with Tia's sister and niece made my heart hurt. Calling on the Wind was the most beautiful song they could've made for the credits. [*] Major Ending Spoilers: So, I really love Tia. But I'm also glad her death is inevitable. I really thought that this was one of those countless games where characters have plot armour and never die, so I was sure they'd revive her at some point. But holy cow! Gosh. Rest in peace, Tia, I'm sure Clay with carry your memory with him forever. [*] Plot Spoilers: At first, the argument with Fable (and the blame games the characters played after it) pissed me off haha! I have experience with bearing the burden of being a friend group mediator, so seeing the drama ensue when I was trying my best was frustrating. But in my second playthrough, I noticed how much of a liar and avoidant of emotional vulnerability the innkeeper was, and realized Fable was so right to call them out on things. In my first playthrough, I was so sure that everyone, especially Caerlin, would hate me when they discovered the innkeeper's backstory. So everyone's understanding and empathy was very moving. You can't fully love your friends unless you trust them to love you back. Cons [*] Although it was fun to see the characters connect to each other, I would've liked it if there was more of a connection between the inkeeper and the characters. There are a few nice moments here and there, but it felt like I played more of a part in their stories, and less of a part in their lives. I guess it's understandable, given the innkeeper's own story, but I feel like I would've sympathized with them more if we had any bonding moments. Or, at the very least, express as much care and concern with the inkeeper as they do with each other. [*] Quest Spoilers: 90% of the "right" choices to make are the charisma/pacifist route. It teaches a nice lesson, but it makes things kind of predictable. It would be nice if there were more "right" choices for other kinds of routes, like a fighting approach, or a quest ending in failure because failure doesn't always have to be bad or wrong. Or even a quest with no right or wrong choices, but each choice having its own banes and boons. [*] Major Ending Spoilers: I think the last quest would be more meaningful if the innkeeper participated in it, leaving the tavern to stand with their friends, or just playing a role in it. Or instead, give the player the option to poison Quasar when serving him a drink! It would mean a lot to the innkeeper's character development if they actually did something about it rather than sit there, as characters have called them out for. Conclusion Why should you play this game? Because witnessing the telling of stories can only make you itch to go and experience your own to tell. This game instilled me with more than enough inspiration to do so! The world and its people (both in real life and in the game) are beautiful. Go forth and adventure!
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I'm giving this a recommended because I think it would be a good game for players who want a cozy visual novel. However, this isn't the right type of game for me. I love the concept of being a player character for a D&D innkeeper hearing rumors and giving quests, a role usually relegated to an npc. I'd still love to see a game like that. Tavern Talk is click through reading with a minor diversion to mix a drink. There isn't much more than that. There's no economy. I don't get paid for mixing drinks, and I don't need to order ingredients. If I mix a wrong drink for a customer and throw it away, there's no penalty for wasted ingredients. The reason why I am giving this a recommended is because this could be the right type of game if you're just looking for a light, uncomplicated visual novel for Sunday afternoon reading. The art style is lovely. The characters are charming and have their quirks (I love Kyle, the neurotic yet charismatic vampire). The characters pick up the quests from the board, ask for advice on which way they should approach the quest, go away for several days, then come back and tell you how it went. Supposedly there is a consequence system if you give advice that is wrong for the quest, but I did not play this long enough to explore that. If you grow attached to the characters, then this could give an emotional dimension to the game. I imagined being a player character for a D&D innkeeper would involve budgeting, pricing for the drinks, paying rent to the king, and a transactional component to doing the quests. Like a quest giver would pay x amount for the job to get done, and the innkeeper takes a cut on completion. Tavern Talk isn't that type of game, so this review is to help set what to expect. If you like a click through novel from the point of view from a high fantasy innkeeper, then you might enjoy this.
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TLDR: Get it if you enjoy fantasy stories and reading. Don't get it if you're looking for creative fun creating and making drinks - if that's you, get Coffee Talk instead. I really enjoyed Coffee Talk and was excited to see this new game, but in my opinion Coffee Talk is better than Tavern Talk. The main reason is that in Coffee Talk you could use your creativity to create drinks and have fun discovering new ones. In Tavern Talk you can't. You have to follow the recipe and if you don't you just get an error. You can't create drinks outside of the story either. And while the quest system is fun, you can't be eagle-eyed and jump in to create a new quest once you have enough rumours, you have to wait until the story tells you too. This game has almost no creativity options for players. The only thing you can really do is to pick between two options on occasion to choose one story path over another. I do enjoy this game, I love the artwork and find the characters interesting, but I really wish I could have more input and creativity than offered. It holds your hand tightly and is largely just reading.
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I would like to start off by saying this. I don't play casual games, visual novels and the like. Quite the opposite in fact, I play more action oriented games where you have SIGNIFICANTLY more input into what goes on. This game however managed to capture my attention. It truly is something special from the perspective of someone who doesn't normally enjoy these games, I can't exactly pin it to one specific attribute, but if you are one of these kinds of people that think they don't like it, I implore you to try it out.
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Last Updates
| Steam data | 10 January 2025 00:52 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 20 January 2025 08:22 |
| Steam price | 22 January 2025 20:49 |
| Steam reviews | 21 January 2025 07:52 |
Online players
31
Developer
Gentle Troll Entertainment
Publisher
Gentle Troll Entertainment
Release
20 Jun 2024
Platforms